Clothes-line



(No Model.)

' J. R. lPHELPS.

CLOTHES LINE.`

Patented Dec. 10, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES R. PHELPS, OF MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

CLOTHES-LINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,045, dated December10, 1895. Application filed February '7, 1895. Serial N0. 537,653. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom t may-concern.'

Be it known that I, JAMES R. PHELPS, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Marysville, in the county of Yuba and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Linesg and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andeXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. Y

My invention relates to certain improvements in metallic clothes -linesof the class commonly designated as pinless lines and in which loops areformed between opposing wires to receive the clothes and securely holdthem without the assistance of pins and similar articles.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification,thefigure represents a section of a clothes-line embodying my invention.

In the said drawing, A represents one strand of wire,which extends fromone end of the line to the other, straightway for its entire length, andwill hereinafter be designated as the supporting-wire, since its mainobject is to suspend or support the companion strand of wire B, which isformed, as I shall presently disclose, to receive and properly supportand secure the articles of clothes hung thereon.

The strand of wire B is formed atintervals with loops, and while thesemay be of various forms the form I prefer -to use is shown in thedrawing, in which the said wire B is bent to form two contiguous loopsb, joined by a short intermediate portion b', which latter portion isconnected with the suspending-wire by a clip c or other fastening means.From each outer side of the loops b the wire B converges toward thesuspending-wire A to form spaces d of gradually-decreasing capacity,whereby the corner or portion of the clothes being first placed withinor through the loop b may then be pulled or forced into the space cl andbe held between the wires, the clip c preventing the other contiguousloop from being affected by such movement.

To more perfectly hold the clothes and to securely clamp them betweenthe two wires A B, I employ a series of slides C, which are looseupon'ithe wires, which pass fre ely through them. The slides arenormally located at or near the points where the two wires come nearesttogether, and when the clothes have been passed into the loops and drawninto the spaces d the slides are then moved so as to draw upon the wireB and gradually close the space d and clamp the clothes between the wireBand the suspending-wire. By using the two contiguous loops, if thearticle to be hung is large it may be made to engage each of the loopsand be suspended at such points, while if the article is small a singleloop may answer the purpose.

From this description it will be seen that while I use two strands ofwire in my line only one wire is bent to form the loops and spaces, theother wire remaining as a supporting-wire and to prevent the bent wirestraightening out and closing the spaces by reason of its own weight,combined with the weight of the clothes and the strain due to drawingthe line tight between the usual end posts or points of fixture, and nomatter in what direction outward the loops extend from thesupporting-wire A this wire remains in its originnl position and thespaces remain unchanged.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

In a clothes line, a wire extending straightway along the line as asupporting wire, a second wire having double bends made in its length toform two contiguous loops joined by an intervening neck from each ofwhich loops a tapering space leads outwardly, slides on the wires forclosing said spaces, and clips connecting the intervening neck portionbetween adjacent loops with the main suspending wire.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES R..PHELPS. Witnesses:

GEO. JACKSON, G. B. BARNES.

